


Somewhere Out of the Blue

by animangod



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Childhood Friends, Getting Back Together, M/M, Separations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:46:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22357408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animangod/pseuds/animangod
Summary: I listened to Elton John's "Someday Out of the Blue" from The Road to Eldorado soundtrack or repeat one and it fed my plot bunnies.Kurogane and Fai are living separate lives but still think about, miss and love each other. By the end, they are together again.
Relationships: Daidouji Tomoyo & Kurogane, Fay D. Fluorite/Kurogane
Kudos: 14





	1. Scene 1: Kurogane

"Come on inside," Tomoyo urged. "Standing out here, you'll look like a security guard."

He let out a mild groan, "It's always so crowded in there."

"Now, now… " she tutted. "You can stretch out behind the cutting table."

"Fine," he grumbled.

Kurogane began to walk to the door before catching a reflection in the store's window. Pausing midstep, he turned around, and his heart grew excited as he scanned the crowd, looking around for the familiar face. "..f…?"

"Is everything okay?" Tomoyo asked, concerned.

He looked towards her, and back at the crowded street. If he had been there, he was gone now. That spark of hope wilted.

"... probably just my imagination," he murmured. His shoulders slumped a little before he stepped inside the sewing store with Tomoyo.

Even though his expression had hardly changed, Tomoyo noticed the small difference and gently placed her hand over his, looking up at him with empathy.

"I'm fine," he assured her.

"I know you will be," she said softly, "but it's okay if you need a moment to not be."

There was a small crinkle to his eyes, "just try not to buy the whole store out."

"You know the car isn't that big.. now while you're at the cutting table, see if you can help the others with their orders and after we're done, I'll take you out for lunch."

"Hm." He patted the top of her head, "we can go to that ramen shop you like. They make a good tonkatsu."

She smiled at that, "sounds like a plan."


	2. Scene 2: Fai

Fai let out a yawn, staring at his computer screen. The data in front of him was beginning to blur and even with the low music, it was increasingly hard to focus so he decided to call it a night, before he fell asleep for real.

Stretching out, he saved his progress and turned off the computer, before he grabbed his coat. He walked out, saying his farewells to the few colleagues he passed on the way to the door.

Standing outside, he looked up at the sky. Heavy clouds promised to rain soon and he walked along the sidewalk, following the familiar path to where work had put him up as he stayed in the area.

"I'm looking for someone."

Fai paused midstep, and looked around. He swore he just heard Kurogane. When he heard the voice again, talking to another person, he realized he was mistaken. The man had long hair and wore expensive furs that draped around him like some courtly cape. Although the voice was familiar, this man looked hardly like the Kurogane he knew.

Knowing it wasn't him, he felt disappointed even though he had no reason to think Kurogane would be there. They wrote letters but they had not seen each other since his family moved; even so, he kept hoping Kurogane would suddenly show up. It would be unexpected and, if he was still like the boy he fell in love with, wholly welcome. Shifting his coat closer, he continued to his current apartment.

"I'm home," he said as he opened the door. As usual, there was no response, but he still waited for one. Taking off his shoes, he set them at the entrance, another custom he hadn't broken out of.

There was little in his living room that indicated he actually lived there instead of using the apartment as some kind of showroom to sell to prospective renters. There was a couch, a table, a small stack of books on a shelf and one framed photo of smiling boys that made up most of his living room.

He hung up his coat on a wall hook before he went to the kitchen and began to make dinner. Deciding on pasta, he heated up the water. As it reached a boil, he poured the pasta inside when he heard his phone ringing in his coat pocket. Rather than answer it, he stirred the pasta about in the water so it wouldn’t clump.

[This is Fai. I am currently busy so please leave a message.] The recording read aloud before there was a _beeep_.

"Gott kvöld. Ég er með eitthvað fyrir þig. Hringdu í mig þegar þú færð tækifæri."

_Beeep_.

As soon as he finished stirring the pasta, he went to his coat and fished out his phone. Returning to the stove, he dialed the last call received.

As soon as the call went through, Fai smiled as he switched to his native tongue. "Gott kvöld, Móðir."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authours Notes: The language used this time is Icelandic.
> 
> *Good evening. I have something for you. Call me when you have the chance.
> 
> * Good evening, Mother.


	3. Scene 3: Kurogane

Kurogane stood at the fence, one hand resting by the gate. Even though he knew, he knew it was a waste of time, that Fai wasn't coming back to that house, whenever he went by, he still looked for him anyway. A part of him kept hoping he would return.

He dug in his pocket to pull out the second key so he could do his monthly maintenance when he heard the door open. Instead of Fai or his parents, a large fluffy dog came rushing over to the fence, barking and tail wagging.

"Hey there," Kurogane greeted the dog, squatting down and showing the back of his hand for the dog to smell.

"Good afternoon."

Kurogane looked over where a fair skinned lady stepped out of the house.

"Afternoon," Kurogane returned the greeting.

"Is there something I may help you with?" She asked in a kind voice, walking over to the fence.

"Well, you saved me from having to clean. Still.. it's good to see the house has a new family looking after it once again."

"Did you used to live here?" She asked curiously, setting a hand on the dog's head, who sat at her side, tail swishing happily.

Kurogane stood back up as he shook his hand a little, "I knew the previous family. After they moved out, I would come here to air out the house. I didn’t want to see it fall into neglect. Ah," he pulled the key out of his pocket, "here. Since you're living here now, here's the second key."

He held out the key to her, and with a warm smile, she accepted it. "Thank you."

"S' no trouble."

"Mama!"

"Mama!"

Kurogane curiously looked over and saw two young girls, with long blond hair and brown eyes. They looked like twins, and he couldn’t help but be reminded of a time he had been that small and Fai and his parents had just moved into this house.

"Girls, please come say hello."

Obediently, the two girls came over with matching smiles and stood by their mother's side. The girls just barely came up to his waist as he stood, and had lacy puffy dresses that had the same colors, just swapped.

"Hi there, mister. I’m Chiho." Chiho wore the black dress with white trim.

"And I’m Chise." Chise wore the white dress with black trim.

"It's good to meet you," they said at the same time, bright and cheerful.

"Good to meet you," he replied softly, "I'm Suwano Kurogane."

"And I'm Mihara Chitose," Chitose smiled in a very motherly way, "My husband's not around, otherwise I would introduce you to him as well. If you like, feel free to drop by again. We're still getting set up, but next time, I can offer you a cup of tea."

"Ah… thank you, Mrs Mihara. And if you need anything to help get settled in, my family home is not too far away - at 2- 7- 9."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authours Notes:
> 
> According to Japan-guide.com, Kurogane's address should be written by subarea number, block number and house number: In this case, it is subarea 2, block 7, building 9.


	4. Scene 4: Fai

Fai scratched out what he wrote and tossed the sheet of paper into the recycle bin before grabbing a new sheet. He had started over and over on his latest letter but somehow it didn't come out how he wanted so he kept restarting.

_Kurogane_ ;

He paused, tapping the paper with the end of his pen before sighing, giving up on letter writing for the night.

He went over to his bed, rolled over and grabbed his plush black cat. It was filled with tiny beans and was the first thing Kurogane had bought for him, and so he could never bring himself to get rid of it, even after it was a faded black and had a couple patch jobs. These days, he used it for comfort and talking out his problem more than anything.

"Jiji… what should I do?"

"...."

"I want to see him again. Do you think he still remembers? I'm sure he does, he was always good at remembering anything I said, even if it took him a while to say it back properly. But it's still been years. Maybe he finally found someone better."

"...."

"Oh Jiji… I miss him. Even if he has moved on, I still want to see him again. I want to see if he's happy. You know, his smile… it was always my favorite one. I want to see him smiling again. Is that really too much?"

"...."

"You're right. We should get some rest. Tomorrow, I'll write to him again. I'll tell him…"

Fai held Jiji in his hand as he set his alarms and turned off the light for the night. He returned to bed and laid Jiji down on the other pillow so he could see the plush as he drifted off.

"Sweet dreams, Jiji."


	5. Scene 5: Kurogane

Kurogane slowly ate his food, and Tsubame knew enough about her son to know it wasn't just his usual thinking as he ate.

"Kurogane?"

"Ah?" He looked up from his plate to meet his mother's gaze.

"Is everything alright?" She asked, looking concerned.

He raised a brow, in confusion, "… why wouldn't they be?"

"You look ...under the weather."

There was a pause, his brows knitting together as he tried to think of anything he could be looking like to worry his mother. "... I don't _feel_ under the weather."

She set her chopsticks down and placed her hand on his forehead, and her brow furrowed a little as she moved her hand back. "After dinner, have your bath and then I want you to head right to bed."

"What about the dishes?" Kurogane asked. It was supposed to be his turn to do them.

"Listen to your mother," his father responded, "We'll take care of them tonight."

"Mm…alright then," Kurogane nodded. If it assured his mother about his health, then he'd go to bed early that night.

Days passed and what started out as almost nothing developed into the flu and pneumonia. He hated being stuck on bedrest with nothing to do, but he also wasn't up for a lot of unnecessary getting out of bed. He still made an effort to do a little something so he didn't feel like he wasted the entire day.

“He's the same as when he was a child," his mother commented.

"He is our boy, after all," his father murmured. None of them were particularly great about not working when their body needed to rest.

Kurogane didn't get sick often, and his family was quite thankful for that. But when he did get sick, it came on gradually before hitting him hard. Twice, it resulted in spending two nights in the hospital before he was deemed healthy enough to stay home and continue to get better.

The first time Kurogane was sick enough he stayed in the hospital, Fai convinced his parents he needed to get Kurogane a get well present. They looked for a while before Fai thought he found the perfect present. When he found out he had came back home, Fai picked fresh flowers and brought the flowers over alongside the plush animal. A blue and white sea serpent plush with its mouth sewn as a ^ .

"See?" Fai wiggled the plush near Kurogane, "He's sad because you are sick, so he wants to cuddle with you and be your friend and help you get better. Just like I want you to get better," Fai said, before giving the toy to Kurogane.

Kurogane tucked it in beside him.

"Do you like him?"

Kurogane nodded a little, "I'll sleep with him. Maybe his magic dragon powers will make the sick go away faster."

"Yeah. He wants to use his magic and make you feel better," Fai said with a small smile before weaving the flowers into Kurogane's hair. "And flowers for you. Because everyone who's sick should get flowers."

Kurogane was pretty sure the flowers looked silly in his hair, but it felt nice to know Fai cared too. And as he laid there, he quietly murmured, "Haf."

"Hm?" Fai looked at Kurogane from his flower arranging.

"His name's Haf.. that way, I will always remember you got him for me."

Fai turned pink at that and tried to hide behind his bangs, but there was a real smile there. "I hope you get better soon. I… ég saknaði þín."

Since he did not want to get Fai sick, Kurogane held the toy and used it to boop Fai. "Ég... sakna þín líka."

Fai was no longer there to put flowers in his hair and tell him to get better, but as Kurogane laid in bed, grumpily recovering his health and strength, Haf had been removed from his usual spot and tucked beside him, smelling like a field of wildflowers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authours Note:
> 
> Haf is Icelandic for ocean or sea.
> 
> Coincidentally, in Czech, it means "woof" and in Welch, it means "summer".
> 
> IN icelandic,  
> "ég saknaði þín" means "I missed you".
> 
> While "ég sakna þín líka" means "I missing you too." Since he's still learning, I intentionally had him make a small mistake.


	6. Chapter 6

Fai admired the ornaments in the store window. The town was getting ready for the winter holidays. Beer and ciders were more frequently available, carved wooden figures and blown glass ornaments filled stalls. Garland and trees were lit up with glowing lights and there was a street carnival-like atmosphere to the busyness, bolstered by the ferris wheel available that had a soft amber glow.

He looked at the trinkets, admiring the fine details the crafters included. Seeing a glass ornament of a pickle, he chuckled fondly. "How cute."

He couldn't eat sour foods himself, but he knew Kurogane was quite fond of pickled foods. There was a tag saying the ornaments were mouth blown and he smiled as he pulled out his wallet to buy the small decoration. It was small enough, he was sure it would be alright even if he had to move for work again.

"Seems you'll have to do the celebrating for him," Fai said to the green decoration before tucking it in his breast pocket.

When he arrived back home, he grabbed his mail before entering inside. He hung the ornament beside the photo frame. He smiled, looking at the picture with fondness.

"I wonder what you're doing… still running errands for your family, I imagine. Well it's almost the holidays for you too, so hopefully you can find time to have a bit of fun. I'm sure you're still reading those magazines of yours."

He quietly recalled just what about the series was so special that Kurogane always looked forward to the next installment. Sure, he read a lot of different magazines, even ones that weren't his favorite style - he always complained if a story used a style too 'shojo bubbly' for his preference - but his favorite series had all of his favorite tropes in one. There were ninjas, magic users, sword duels and (talking) dragons and the ever-present found family trope, plus it had a good design, as far as Kurogane was concerned.

"I suppose I should catch back up. Give us even more to talk about in our next letters," he commented before leafing through the mail. Bill, junk mail, junk mail, local newsletter and

"Ah… talk of the devil~" he said, seeing the familiar handwriting. He lightly tossed the other mail onto the table before going to sit down with the only letter he currently wanted to read.

Carefully tearing it open, he smiled warmly seeing it was meant as a nengajo - a New Year's greeting card.

謹賀新年 (Happy New Year!)

今年もよろしくお願いします (I look forward to our contact together again this year.)

"I hope it's not too late to send you one as well."


	7. Chapter 7

"Kurogane, I need a favor."

Kurogane looked over the edge of the pages of his magazine towards his cousin. "Hm?"

"I want you to come with me overseas," Tomoyo stated.

"Again?"

"Yes, there's a conference next month and because it's abroad, Mother won't let me go alone."

"Your usual guards can't go?" He asked, glancing at his place in his magazine.

"Well they can, but you'll bring less attention than having several guards. That's why I want you to come with me. And besides, it'll be more  _ fun _ with you."

He let out a light sigh, setting his magazine to the side, "When is this conference anyway? The new edition will be out soon, and I don' wanna miss it."

Tomoyo brightened up at that. "That's great. I'll book our flights then. And you can bring it along in your carryon."

That didn't technically answer his question, but he supposed it meant it was a couple days or so after he usually got the monthly edition. "So where is this conference? Not America, I hope."

Tomoyo smiled and handed over a paper with the address, "It will be here."

Kurogane looked it over, the country's name catching his attention more than the physical address. His last letters to Fai were in that country. He looked back at Tomoyo as she continued.

"And since you'll be doing me a favor, while we're there, if there happens to be some place you want to visit, we can make the time to visit."

He didn't want to get his hopes too high, because Fai did sometimes move and travel as well for his job but there was at least a chance they could see one another.

"If that's so, I'm not sure who would be doing the bigger favor."

Tomoyo grinned proudly, glad that she could potentially do something for Kurogane. "That's what I was hoping to hear. Now - make sure to pack some of your nicer outfits for our trip."

"Like you'd really let me go to one of your conferences in clothes of ill repute," Kurogane replied with an amused snort.

"Well of course not~ I can't have my darling cousin looking anything but his best for it."

* * *

Fai answered the phone without taking the time to really see who the call was coming from beyond there were letters instead of just numbers. He waited a moment to see which language he needed to answer in, and nearly dropped his phone when he heard the voices on the other end as his heartbeat jumped into his throat, leaving his mouth dry. He mentally questioned just how long it had been.

He recalled how Kurogane, while not technologically-illiterate, prefered to keep things simple - he knew he had an ereader, a music player and a watch. He  _ had _ a phone for a hot second but because of a miscommunication - the difference between someone getting rid of it and them wanting it disposed of - he crushed it into pieces.

So since Kurogane didn't own a working phone, Tomoyo had taken the liberty one year to send him a voice recording shortly after midnight, her time, background sounds of an izakaya den, and then the clear sound of Kurogane saying Skál before Kanpai with a small group - no doubt his family. The message simply read, お誕生日おめでとう！or Happy Birthday!

Which made this call all the more surprising. He knew that Tomoyo was frequently busy and he didn't have a phone number for Kurogane.

"... tell him?" He overheard the sound of Kurogane.

"Focus on the road," he heard Tomoyo say before returning her attention to Fai. "Have I called at a bad time?"

"Ah, not at all. Just surprised me is all. How have you been?" He replied in perfect Japanese.

"Absolutely wonderful. Say, do you have plans this week?"

"Mm.. nothing out of the ordinary."

"I see. Well, if you're interested, Kurogane tells me we're going to be in your area soon … the Annual Wedding Dress Conference is going to be held in Edonis this year so the two of us are flying out tomorrow. If it's not too inconvenient for you, we would love to meet up and have you join us."

"I.. I'll see if I can get the time," Fai said, his voice barely containing his eagerness. Okay, so that was the polite version. He absolutely planned to take the time off regardless. Even if they had little time together, it was a chance to finally catch up in person. He didn't know when the next chance might happen, so he was going to take it. "Let me know when your flight arrives? I'd like to know you made it safely."

"I sure will," Tomoyo agreed readily. 


	8. Chapter 8

Kurogane settled into the airplane seat - Tomoyo always made sure he had a seat with extra leg room while she got a window seat. After the safety instructions were done and they began to take off, he pulled out his music player and plugged in his headphones in order to relax for much of the flight, knowing Tomoyo would gently tap his arm if she wanted his attention (and he would pause his music to give it to her). She, in the meantime, pulled out a small project to work on the embroidery.

Meanwhile, Fai wondered if he made the right choice as he sat at the terminal, glancing every few minutes at the arriving flight information, specifically looking for one flight's information as well as checking for any call or message from Tomoyo. As soon as he had received word from Tomoyo they were boarding the plane to Edonis, he left for the airport to meet them.

He was sure they'd have a lot of luggage, and a room already for the Conference and they'd probably be tired from jetlag and want to rest up, but he really wanted to see them as soon as he could. No matter how much time passed, they were family to him, and he'd missed them.

He hoped they liked the sign he'd made on impulse. Well, less impulse and more having spent several hours after Tomoyo's call watching reunion videos online and looking up ideas for greeting a loved one at the airport, and when those got way too romantically cheesy to do for both of them, he lowered his search to meeting long distance best friend and then went for simply greeting family at airport when his search turned up little new ideas or videos. 

So he waited, his sign perched in the seat beside him and Jiji doing a fine job of guarding it with her plush paws. He went for carrying little more than necessary - Jiji wasn't technically necessary for the reunion idea or going through security but having her there helped soothe his doubts.

* * *

  
  


With the announcement they were preparing to land at Edonis Airport, Kurogane turned off his music player and stuffed it and the headphones back into his backpack, getting ready to disembark from the flight. He stretched out a little before waiting for when it was safe to head off.

They would still have to gather the rest of their luggage but that meant walking through the airport and to the turnstyle where bags were tossed on and slowly rotated so people could grab their belongings with only the same flight's passengers typically competing for finding their luggage.

He walked beside Tomoyo, carrying their small carryon bags over his shoulder, lightly bowing his head as he passed the staff and the doorway which was a little low to just walk under without a potential rap against the forehead.

"Have you told him?" He asked, remembering she said she'd contact Fai when they were safely landed.

"I have. He sent a big smiley face and a heart eye emoji in response."

"Hm."

"You know.. have you considered getting a phone for yourself?"

"They're a pain …" Kurogane groused.

Tomoyo tittered at that, "true, but sometimes they come in handy. Like letting Fai know we arrived safely."

Kurogane wasn't going to argue that point because there wasn't a good retort. "Maybe when Yuui and Youou kiss, I'll go buy my own."

"Well if that's what it takes…" Tomoyo tittered at him, as though she could personally arrange for that to happen.

Kurogane looked over at his cousin, recognizing the playful, somewhat mischievous sound in her laughter. 

"Of course I think it's better if you pick out your own… you know what you'd want to use it for," she began as if she was simply talking about a folder used for work. "Of course, being in my profession, I can give you suggestions based on what you would want if for… knowing you, besides for a paper weight you stim with." 

"Hey now, I know how to use them properly," Kurogane murmured with a hint of a pout in his voice.

"Is that so? Maybe we  _ should _ go phone shopping for you then…"

"....." Kurogane grew quiet at that because he felt no matter what he said to that, he might as well have walked into a trap he laid out himself. After a moment, he cleared his throat, "So where are we staying?"

"At Fairy Park Hotel. Fairy Park is one of the sponsors so there was a discount on their hotel rooms for guests of the conference. Of course, we have our own rooms. With all the luggage, it made more sense to split it into two rooms anyway."

"Ah…" Kurogane murmured in acknowledgement. He felt like there might be another reason but didn't question it. After all, she used mannequins, hangers and the likes to display the clothes and other apparel before doing final alterations at the Conference to fit the model. The more room for her to work, the better, as far as he was concerned.

He paused, hearing a familiar voice yoohooing, and then stared like a deer in headlights.


	9. Chapter 9

Fai sent the two emojis in response before he pocketed his phone and grabbed Jiji and his sign to wait for them to come out of the gate. His nerves were acting up again but he smiled them down as he held his sign more confidently than he felt, holding it above his head while Jiji rested on his shoulder. The sign had a light reference to a family film as it read 'I miss My Neighbors Tomoyo and Kurogane' where he had drawn a picture of the cousins when they were younger, with Tomoyo holding an umbrella and a leaf on Kurogane's head.

He watched as Kurogane and Tomoyo walked beside another, chatting lightly and it seemed Tomoyo was teasing Kurogane, and he was quite glad that he was distracted with whatever they were talking about - he couldn't quite hear what it was about from the distance - because he needed a moment to gather his wits from scattering them like a spilled bag once full of bouncy marbles.

He'd seen the man's father before, known him growing up, and while he deeply resembled the older man, especially now that he had matured into an adult, he'd always had his mother's eyes. They made it hard for him to hide once you understood the way they crinkled.

He loved him when he was younger, had fallen into his bed for cuddles more times than he could count, and there was something so safe about Kurogane, like you knew things would be alright with him around. It seemed some things hadn't changed at all. Even just seeing his face, he felt overwhelmed with a desire to snuggle into his side and never leave it again. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he smiled bright and wide at the both of them.

"Yoohoo~" he chirped, wiggling the sign for more attention grabbing potential.

He saw Tomoyo see him and her smile brightened like the tiny angel she was. Kurogane on the other hand looked absolutely stunned, like a computer erroring out and needing to reboot to function again. He could hardly blame him; it took him a while to function seeing the boy he loved all grown up and so close he could run up and hug him.

Kurogane walked more on autopilot as Tomoyo tugged on his hand in order to go over towards Fai. Unlike the two men she knew around her, she didn't have a problem with her brain forgetting how to function currently. If anything, she seemed absolutely delighted. Fai began as a good friend of the family, he made a delightfully fun model, an excellent tag-teamer when it came to teasing Kurogane. Whether Kurogane and Fai were a couple or not, she felt he was part of the family. A feeling several other members also shared.

It had been so long, and so often, it was just a memory, a trick of light but finally, after years of being apart, years of their only contact was through letters to one another, he was finally here. And now that Fai was in front of him, all the things Kurogane had thought to say ahead of time disappeared from his mind like morning dew.


	10. Chapter 10

"Well? Aren't you going to say something, Kurogane?" Tomoyo prodded. He had yet to get a word out, and fond amusement leaked into her tone. 

Sure, he had plenty of things he had thought of to say. None quite encapsulated all he felt he ought to tell her. However, a simple 'I missed you too' would work in such a public place.

Instead, what came out was, "... Hey."

Fai quietly snickered before he let out a bubbly laugh at that, all the nerves he felt loosening. "After all these years, you still haven't changed a bit, have you?"

"He really hasn't." Tomoyo’s tone was coy.

" _ Hey _ ." Kurogane scowled, pouting at them.

That only made Fai double down on his giggling, enough he was sure he'd have a bellyache later.

Kurogane let out a huff before moving over and plucking up Jiji. “If all you’re going to do is laugh your head silly, at least help us carry.”

“Ah! Of course.” Amused chuckles still escaped with his breath. “Here, I can carry those bags for you.”

“Hm..” Kurogane moved the bags from off his shoulder. Unzipping his, he tucked Jiji inside and handed them both to Fai. “Here.”

Fai took a quick peek inside since Kurogane hadn’t fully closed the bag, and saw Haf tucked inside with Jiji and what looked like a new magazine, an e-reader, and headphones. “You  _ really  _ haven’t changed at all. Looks like Jiji is in good company.” Fai smiled fondly before closing the zipper the rest of the way to ensure that nothing fell out.

“Cmon, the rest of the luggage ain’t nice enough to carry itself.” Kurogane moved his gaze to the signs, looking for which Luggage terminal they needed to go to.

“Honestly, it’s a good thing too.” Tomoyo grinned, patting his arm. “Wouldn't want my darling cousin to miss out on his daily workout.”

“Even if the bags grew legs, I doubt I’d have to worry about that.” After so many years, he knew Tomoyo well enough, “You’d find  _ something _ .”

Fai laughed as he sidled closer to Kurogane’s side. “Naturally. It’d be a crime not to work those pretty muscles of yours.”

A flush rose to his cheeks. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think?”

“Maybe a little, but he is right. It’s so nice you’re so strong, because you can do all the heavy lifting!” Tomoyo cheered, walking on Kurogane’s other side.

“You two are incorrigible.” He heaved a sigh.

“Well, it’s out of love, so you have to accept it.” Fai grinned. “Just like your cute nicknames.”

“Those are your names.” Kurogane glanced more at Fai, “Nobody else gets away with such peanut gallery talk.”

“Now, now, that’s not very nice.” Fai laughed. “They’re made of love, not ‘peanut gallery talk’.”

“Are you sure? Your head rattles about like it’s full of empty shells.”

Fai let out a melodramatic gasp. “It does not, it sounds like loose screws.”

“Uh huh… must be why you are so dense in the head and hollow in the bones. Like a stork.”

“Now Kuro, if I were a stork, I’d definitely have to bring you lots and lots of kids. I’m sure you’d be an excellent father.”

“Who are you calling a father?” Kurogane reached over to tousle Fai’s hair, mussing it up.

“Now Kurogane, that’s not polite.” Tomoyo feigned a scandalized look, “You should at least wait till you’re in a room to make Fai look so disheveled.”

Kurogane froze mid tousle at that as a blush crept deep into his face. Fai’s face went bright pink, but he grinned from ear to ear. 

“Tomoyo!” Kurogane barked.

“Ah-haha!” Fai laughed off his blush. “Well… ah, so that means… Kuro-tan, have you really been waiting this whole time? Ah, you really are too good for this world.”

“Sh-shut up!” Kurogane’s flush had yet to subside. “Hurry up, or I’ll leave you two here.”

Tomoyo chuckled at that, knowing full well Kurogane was just blustering. He wouldn’t  _ really _ leave them behind.

"Right. We should get the bags to the hotel. So — Fai, how long do we have you?"

"Mm, well, I took the whole week off. So you two get to have me as long as you like."

"Hear that, Kurogane? As long as we like!"

Kurogane let out an amused huff, before quietly muttering, "A lifetime sure is short these days."

* * *

Note: I had Evig-sang beta this chapter because my brain was being a bully.


End file.
